Anis Yusal is appointed JITN DG

PUTRAJAYA: Institute of Integrity Malaysia (IIM) president and chief executive Datuk Dr Anis Yusal Yusoff has been appointed National Integrity and Good Governance Department (JITN) Director-General.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan said the two-year appointment was effective March 12 this year.
"The appointment is very crucial. He will work with the minister in charge closely to ensure JITN leads the transformation change in the public and private sectors focusing on integrity, good governance and human rights.
"I welcome the appointment as he (Anis Yusal) has extensive experience and has served in various capacities previously. We have worked closely on the Political Donations and Expenditure Act," he told Bernama today.
Anis Yusal has served on a number of national advisory councils relating to corruption, consumerism, national unity and integrity. He is a Commissioner in the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission.
He has also served over 10 years at the United Nations Development Programme, as well as at the United Nations Volunteers Headquarters in Bonn, Germany, and was a member of the Advisory Panel for the Consultation and Prevention of Corruption under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
He was Principal Fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and was responsible for developing KITA-MESRA, an early warning system to manage potential ethnic tension conflict.
Anis Yusal holds a PhD and MSc in Information Management and Technology from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York.
Meanwhile, Low said JITN was a holistic and sustainable approach by the government in changing the mindset and perception of the people on integrity and corruption.
"JITN will look at issues on the tender and procurement processes, whistle-blowing procedure, the need for technology empowerment to reduce human intervention, as well as increase visibility and transparency of transaction.
"We need to work on culture changes and mindset of the civil service, as well. (At) Every level of civil service, we need to change their mindset so that the people will give integrity as their priority," he added.
JITN is being upgraded from the Integrity and Good Governance Division under the Prime Minister's Department into a full department.
The establishment of the JITN was approved by the Cabinet on July 28, last year, in line with the Government Transformation Programme, for the institutionalisation of compliance initiatives in the fields of governance, integrity and human rights.
It is set up to lead the transformation of change to build institutional capacity, especially among civil servants and drive policy changes and empower the government's processes. — Bernama